Let the sunshine in

The $33,185 rebate check delivered by Sierra Pacific Power to the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California last week isn't a ton of money.

To be sure, the check is big enough to pay for about half the tribe's cost of installing a photovoltaic system to convert sunlight into electricity at an office building in Douglas County.

But the bigger payoff, state officials say, will come as a steady stream of similar checks plays a role in widespread installation of photovoltaic systems.And as that occurs, they expect the cost of the systems to begin falling perhaps spurring development of a photovoltaic industry in Nevada.

The $33,185 received by the tribe came through a two-year-old state program in which customers of Sierra Pacific Power and other utilities each pay a few pennies a month to encourage solar projects.

The Washoe Indian Tribe, the first to receive a rebate under the program, installed photovoltaic panels on the roof of a building along Highway 395 south of Gardnerville.

The building houses the tribe's environmental program.

The panels produce enough electricity, approximately 7.5 kilowatts, to power the office lights, computers, copiers and fax machine.

Excess power is sold back onto the Sierra Pacific grid essentially causing the tribe's electric meter to run backwards.

The tribe's installation is one of 56 solar projects capable of producing nearly 200 kilowatts of electricity under construction statewide.

Eighteen contractors are installing the photovoltaic systems; the Washoe Tribe's system was installed by Alternative Energy Solutions of Reno.

About $1 million in rebates will be paid to owners of the projects under construction this year, and Sierra Pacific is seeking applicants to share in the rebates available next year.

They expect the rebate program to fill fast.

This year, organizers received enough applications to commit all the available residential and small-business funding within two weeks.

Funds still remain, however, for schools and public buildings.

Within three years, organizers of the program marketed as SolarGenerations expect photovoltaic sources to generate about five megawatts of power statewide a figure that would be enough power to meet the needs of about 2,500 homes.

And in that figure lies the potential for new industry and jobs.

Danny Thompson, executive secretary and treasurer of the Nevada State AFL-CIO, says unions are encouraging manufacturers of photovoltaic systems to locate in Nevada, citing the state's commitment to the rebate program as one of their arguments.

After all, Thompson says, businesses that build photovoltaic systems may want to locate in the midst of one of their thriving markets.

"The whole idea is to create an industry that will drive the costs down," he says."We have a huge opportunity here."

Already, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has developed a program in Nevada to train workers to install and maintain photovoltaic systems.

Richard Burdette, director of the state energy office, agrees that investment in photovoltaic technology whether it's investment by unions in education or investment by individuals and businesses that install the equipment is critical to driving prices down.

"It doesn't get cheaper by people sitting back and thinking about it," Burdette says.

For all the talk about economics, the Washoe Tribe was motivated by more money when it decided to install the photovoltaic system.

For starters, it sees the end of an era in which the world is driven by fossil fuels.

"We don't want to wait until we touch bottom before we begin to swim," says Tribal Chairman Brian Wallace.

And the tribe's members, he says, are driven by a vision in which people live more closely attuned to the world about them.

"A world without a dream,"Wallace says, "is like living in a cage." (For more information about the SolarGenerations program and the rebates program, go to www.SolarGenerations.com or call (866) PV-NEVADA.)